Key concepts of media literacy LESSON 4
Media have
commercial implications
GRADES 5-8
DURATION
45-90 minutes
OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students watch a video introducing the media literacy key concept that media have commercial
implications. They then watch an ad for jeans which conceals its commercial nature, and discuss its purpose before
and after being aware of its purpose. In an optional final task, students analyze an educational kids’ website created by
the US National Dairy Council and identify the ways in which its different elements educate, entertain, persuade and
advertise to youth.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will:
• understand the key concept that media have commercial implications
• identify the commercial purpose of a media product
• understand that media products may serve multiple purposes
• apply their understanding of commercial implications of media by analyzing the multiple purposes of an educational
website (optional task)
PREPARATION AND MATERIALS
• Arrange to have access to a digital projector or digital whiteboard and cue up the videos “Media Have Commercial
Implications” [http://bit.ly/15LZFVB] and “Guys Backflip into Jeans” [http://n.pr/15M0rSp]
• If your students will be doing the optional task, copy the worksheet What’s It For? Identifying a Website’s Purpose
(For background information on the “Guys Backflip into Jeans” video, see http://n.pr/1fFZKj6)
PROCEDURE
Begin by showing students the video “Media Have Commercial Implications” [http://bit.ly/15LZFVB]. When it’s done,
ask students to think about the points raised in the video.
• What does it mean to say that “media have commercial implications?” (That most media products are made to make
money, which has an influence on their content.)
• How does the audience that a media product is aimed at affect its content? (Because the product has to be made to
appeal to that audience.)
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mediasmarts.ca
Key concepts of media literacy LESSON 4
Media have commercial implications
• Name some media products (movies, video games, etc.) that are aimed at people your age (in terms of their sex, age,
interests, etc.), and some that definitely are not. (It’s common for media products to have more than one purpose:
nearly all are made to make money either directly by getting you to pay for it or indirectly by selling or advertising
something, but they may also be intended to entertain, educate or persuade you.)
Now read from the screen the assignment: “Think of any ad, online video, article or website. Who is behind the message
and why are they communicating it?”
Then show students the video “Guys Backflip into Jeans” at http://n.pr/15M0rSp (Ideally, have it cued up in full-screen
so that students can’t see the title “Stealth Ads.”) Play the first minute-and-a-half and then remind the students of the
assignment from the previous video.
Ask students:
• Who do they think was behind the “Guys Backflip into Jeans” video?
• What do they think its purpose was?
• What, if any, message did it have?
Students are likely to say that it has no message and is just a bunch of guys doing funny stunts. Don’t challenge this
question for now, but instead show the last twenty seconds of the video and then ask:
• Were you surprised to learn that it was actually a professionally made ad for Levi’s jeans?
• Now that you know that it was created by Levi-Strauss, what do you think its purpose and message were?
Now that they know it was created by Levi’s, their answers to the other questions are likely to change to recognize that
the purpose of the video is to get you to buy Levi’s jeans through a message that makes them seem exciting and cool.
Ask students if they’ve ever played “advergames” or watched TV shows that are based on toys. If so, what do they
think their purpose is? Ask students for examples of other media products that have more than one purpose: examples
might include educational TV shows (which try to educate and entertain) and funny ads (which advertise and entertain).
Finally, ask students how they know if a media product is trying to persuade them or advertise to them instead of (or as
well as) educating them. Remind students of the importance of knowing who created a media product: do they have a
reason to want you to believe a particular thing? Will they make money if the media product gets you to buy something?
OPTIONAL TASK
Distribute the worksheet What’s It For? Identifying a Website’s Purpose and have students look at the website
“Nutrition Explorations Game Page” [http://bit.ly/16RzLAz]. (You may choose to have students do this on their
own, either at home or in a computer lab; in pairs; or together as a class using a data projector or digital whiteboard.)
Have students use the worksheet to identify the ways in which the website serves commercial, educational and other
purposes and then make a judgment of what they feel the site’s most important purpose is.
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mediasmarts.ca
Key concepts of media literacy LESSON 4 – MEDIA HAVE COMMERCIAL IMPLICATIONS
What’s It For? Identifying
a Website’s Purpose
Lots of media products are made to do more than one thing. A cereal box, for
example, tells you important things about what’s in the cereal. It’s also a kind of ad
that tries to make you want to buy the cereal.
Here are some of the most common purposes a media product might have:
• To entertain you (by being funny or exciting)
• To educate you (by teaching you something) or inform you (by giving you facts that you were looking for)
• To advertise to you (by trying to get you to want to buy something)
• To persuade you of something (by trying to make you agree with an idea)
Take a look at the Nutrition Explorations Game Page and the activities that are on it to see what different parts of the page and
activities may serve different purposes. Each part of the site may serve more than one purpose (for instance, a game might try to
both entertain and educate you).
Website title: Nutrition Explorations Game Page
Web address: http://bit.ly/16RzLAz
A. ENTERTAINMENT
Find three things on the site that are trying to entertain you
by being fun, exciting or funny. Below each one write why you
think its purpose is to entertain you.
1. Why it’s entertainment:
2. Why it’s entertainment:
3. Why it’s entertainment:
Key concepts of media literacy LESSON 4 – MEDIA HAVE COMMERCIAL IMPLICATIONS
B. EDUCATION
3. Why it’s advertising:
Find three things on the site that are trying to educate or
inform you. Below each one write why you think its purpose is
to educate you.
1. How it’s educational:
D. PERSUASION
1. Who created this website?
2. How it’s educational:
How do you know?
Find three things on the site that are trying to make you think
3. How it’s educational:
or agree with a particular thing. Below each one write why you
think its purpose is to persuade you.
1. Why it’s persuasive:
C. ADVERTISING
2. Why it’s persuasive:
Find three things on the site that are trying to advertise to
you by teaching you something or giving you the information
you were looking for. Below each one write why you think its
purpose is to advertise to you.
3. Why it’s persuasive:
1. Why it’s advertising:
E. CONCLUSION
2. Why it’s advertising:
What do you think is the main purpose of this website – to
entertain, educate, advertise or persuade? Why?